Speed
by Hikari-san42
Summary: A simple character study on a small fox who struggles to be as fast as his best friend.


_Speed_

_By Hikari-san42_

_Universe: Game_

_Rating: K_

_Pairings: None. Never. Don't squint. That's just wrong. _

_Warnings: An extreme lack of dialogue. This is a CHARACTER STUDY, not a cutesy fanfic about your favorite pairing. Also, please excuse any typos, as I'm exhausted and don't have time to send this off to a beta for checking.  
_

_Notes: This all started out with an obsession over the speed of sound I had a few weeks back after studying it in my physics class. I eventually started to apply these same concepts to Sonic characters – most of all Tails, because he didn't start out __fast__, if Tails' Adventure is anything to go on. I believe in a cannon where Tails isn't the innocent little kid everyone judges him to be, simply because of the fact that Tails' Adventure points to otherwise. (He __kills__ people in that game people.) This oneshot had no planning whatsoever, and started simply as a character study of Tails and his evolving speed. It doesn't go into the lack of flying he does in the latest games ((grumbles about mechs)) but simply covers a young four year old Tails trying to keep up with his best friend. (This also could be considered a part of the 'Just Adjectives' universe, if you chose to take it that way.)  
_

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The speed of sound was a hard concept for him to grasp. Of course, he knew the numbers: 331 metres per second in air that was measured at 0 degrees Celsius, 343.2 metres per second in 20 degree air, which translated out to 768 miles per hour. Mach speed is reliant on velocity of the object traveling through the medium and the speed of the sound in that same medium – both very dependent on the temperature of the surrounding environment. Subsonic was between any mach number up to .75, transonic ranging from mach .75 to mach 1.2, mach 1.0 was simply called sonic, 1.2 to 5.0 was supersonic, mach 5.0 to mach 10.0 was considered hypersonic, and finally, any mach number higher than mach 10 was called high-hypersonic. Mach speed wasn't constant, as it increased as the mercury rose in the thermometer. Sound travelled faster in water than in air, and faster still through solids. Sound was a mechanical wave, running parallel to the direction of travel.

Oh yes, he knew the _concepts_.

Knowing the concepts and experiencing them first hand were two totally different things however. He had lived most of his short life entertaining ideas of such a speed, especially when he had been plodding along after those infernal _birds_, but his ponderings had not come to fruition until he had met the one named for that legendary speed.

Of course, in the year he had spent in Emerald Hill, he had caught the rumblings of the legendary hedgehog nick-named "blue wind" but he hadn't given them much precedence, worried more about where his next meal would be coming from. When he had stumbled across the hedgehog – well, more like the hedgehog had stumbled across _him_… in the middle of a fight – he couldn't believe his eyes the first time he saw the cobalt streak dash its way around, completely and totally in control of itself.

His scientific side had wanted to study the hedgehog, but his immature half stared at this creature of urban legend and saw a protector, a role model, and a _brother_. So, he had tagged along after him, not letting anything get in the way of his pursuit of friendship. The hedgehog wasn't forthcoming with letting a little kid tag along, but he eventually allowed himself to become fond of his young charge. They bonded quickly after that, the younger teaching the older about the simple principals of physics and how the hedgehog himself was a violation against nature. At the time, the older male had simply smirked mischiefly at the younger before scooping him up and darting forward with enough force to crack the sound barrier.

That's when his obsession with speed and sound started.

At first, it was innocent enough. Late nights were spent deep in the recesses of many a research book as his young mind tried to grasp how sound moved and worked. All the information could give him however, was numbers.

Numbers weren't substantial enough.

After that, he took matters into his own hands and began experimenting on things. A sound wave could crack a crystal glass into pieces if on the right frequency; a sonic boom could have the same effect on windows – though the glass is cracked because the sound wave reacts with the glass's natural resonance while the sonic boom simply forces the windows to break. Friction was a heavy factor when the sound barrier was taken into account, because the density of the air – the amount of air and water particles in a certain space – held back certain objects from going at their top speed. To counteract this, he designed Sonic's shoes able to push harder on the ground depending on the water content of the air, the porous material sensing the change and adjusting accordingly.

Eventually, he started practicing his flying. At this point, his stamina had increased to the point where he could fly for hours on end, and he wasn't any weaker for it. His speed was notable, but not even close to the level of his best friend's, and he planned to change that.

At first, he worked on his running speed, convinced that he could somehow keep up with only his shoes separating him from the planet surface. He was a fox after all, and foxes weren't meant to soar above the skies, no matter how _free_ or _right_ it felt for him when he was up there. But, he eventually gave up on that, filing it under 'hopeless' and moving instead onto his flying ability.

It was slow going at the beginning, literally. He had spent much of his time on Westside Island following Sonic on foot, because the hedgehog had been a little freaked out by his flying act, no matter how _cool_ he insisted it was, so his tail speed wasn't up to par with what he wanted. His first speed building exercise was developed in baby steps, mainly consisting of catapulting himself off high places and running before launching. These 'running starts' allowed him to feel exactly what the air did when he was going quickly and how exactly to angle his ears and body for steering purposes.

It took him all of five seconds to realize that his inner ear was the key to navigation in the air. While Sonic relied on his eyes and fast reacting brain, he had his overly large ears. They cupped the air and were sensitive enough for him to feel every peculiarity and waver in the liquid like particles as he sped through. When he angled them just so, he would somehow tip to the corresponding side a tad, as if reacting to the difference in air flow in the sensitive center-of-gravity sensors.

It had taken a few weeks to understand and find his sense of balance while in the air after that, most of which Sonic spent sleeping on the couch or running around the planet. The next few months were spent in honing his abilities, achieving a faster and faster speed with each day that passed. Eventually, he was so agile in the air that he could engage a feral bird or butterfly in a game of tag and would always win, even against their smaller 'wingspans'. The sound barrier seemed easier to reach than ever and he didn't hesitate that day he was able to reach it.

He remembered that day now. It was a cool fall day, the leaves just flipping into their more festive colors. Sonic was laying the grass, catching the last rays of the sun before the winter chill set in and he himself was flying around, trying to catch leaves before they hit the ground as the first of the breezes started to gust through. Eventually, Sonic stood up, stretching and easily taking off from a standstill. He remembered blinking to himself, wondering exactly how the hedgehog did what he did before smiling evilly and following behind his big brother with a sense of accomplishment.

He caught up seconds later, waving a little stuck-upishly at his running partner and smiling easily. Sonic's eyes had slightly bugged out upon seeing what he thought was a very speed limited individual. But, he had brushed off his shock easy enough, smiling back and giving a thumbs up before pouring on a little more speed to see what his little brother could handle.

The fox had simply rolled his eyes before dashing forward as well, pumping his tails just a squick faster. He was level again with Sonic milliseconds later.

It was at this point that the younger had started to feel the restriction of the air around his body. His fur was pushed back roughly against his skin and it was getting difficult to keep his eyes open; his feet were hanging limply behind him, pushed backward by the sharp wind that gusted coarsely against the hanging appendages, while his fingers struggled to stay splayed to allow air flow. Sonic himself didn't seem to feel any of these side effects as he pushed harder against the restricting wall that pushed back with just enough force, his dark eyes squinting into the jagged atmosphere.

The younger urged himself forward like his friend, feeling a smile split his face when his body listened and he felt the barrier around him starting to splinter. He could feel the air starting to snake easier around his body and the thick barricade thinning as he pushed faster.

Then, with a loud _crack_, both he and Sonic slammed through the sound barrier.

He didn't know how fast he was going; didn't care that the sound he had just emitted was enough to break windows or that it wasn't possible in space, or any of the things he had researched. All he cared about was that he had _done it_. He had _succeeded_ in something that seemed impossible. It was exhilarating, this feeling of achievement and he didn't want to let it go.

Eventually though, Sonic started to slow and the fox was forced to follow his lead. They skittered to a stop without preamble, Sonic halting a good few yards before the fox. The younger dropped to the ground on hands and knees, totally and completely exhausted despite his exhilaration. The hedgehog walked up to his young charge and placed hand on his small shoulder, forcing the kitsune to look up at him.

"I knew you had it in you, Tails."

It was a simple statement, but one filled with so much appreciation and approval that it was _tangible,_ made the fox's face split in a grin before he launched himself onto his older brother for a hug.

They both fell to the ground laughing, enjoying the fact that no one would be able to touch them for then on, because _they_ were Sonic and Tails, the unstoppable speed team.

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_Reviews are loved and will be responded to if they are left with enough meat to respond to. _


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